Warriors' Stephen Curry, (30) and head coach Mark Jackson talks things over during a time out, as the Golden State Warriors take on the Portland Trail blazers, at Oracle Arena on Sunday Jan. 26, 2014, in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Warriors' Stephen Curry, (30) and head coach Mark Jackson talks...

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Mark Jackson says, "I feel excited about where we are." But the Warriors have had lapses in a season of high hopes, and the pressure will be on the coach to smooth out the rough spots.

It's a heavy word. Derived from the Latin root expectare, it drips with pressure. The word encourages one to "await, look out for, desire, hope."

It just makes me want more.

As many of us wrote before the Warriors' season, the team was facing expectation for the first time in years. The Warriors made the playoffs last year. They won a first-round matchup with the Nuggets. They almost knocked off the Spurs.

Surely, the Warriors and their third-year head coach, Mark Jackson, would build on this momentum. They even added All-Star Olympian Andre Iguodalaas an experienced presence on a team loaded with young talent.

For a while, it looked as if the Warriors would live up to the expectare. They won 10 straight in December and January, almost completing a never-been-done 7-0 trip while knocking off the champion Heat in the process. This team could win the West, we said. The Warriors are getting even better!

But a funny thing happened on the way to the playoffs: The Warriors went a little sideways, becoming inconsistent and losing games they should win. Since the Big Win Streak, they've been 10-9. Admittedly, they've been hit heavily with injuries. And they've become inconsistent, losing games they should win and tantalizing fans with amazing performances. But maybe, just maybe, they got weighed down by expectations.

That's OK. It makes sense. Nowhere does the pressure lie more firmly than on the sturdy shoulders of Jackson, a basketball lifer who has played for legends, with legends and against legends. So, he's not too worried about it. When asked if he is feeling the pressure, Jackson wore it.

"Great question. I feel excited about where we are. We are a team headed in the right direction," he said. "I'm very fortunate and blessed to coach this basketball team, and there is pressure being a father, a husband, a pastor, a son, a friend and a coach - every day of my life. I embrace it."

That doesn't mean everyone else is quite as sanguine. The talk shows are buzzing with criticism, despite the Warriors' strong play since the All-Star break, questioning whether Jackson is getting the most out of the roster provided to him by owner Joe Lacoband general manager Bob Myers. Questioning whether he's missing his former assistant, Michael Malone, who left in the offseason for the head-coaching job in Sacramento.

To that, I say this: Get a grip. This is still a good, young Warriors team. Golden State has some holes to fill, and Myers might have done so last week, bringing in a legitimate point guard in Steve Blake, a former Laker described as a "psycho competitor" by none other than Kobe Bryant. Blake could play the role Jarrett Jackdid last season, providing spark and scoring on the second team and handling the ball in the final seconds.

But that remains to be seen. And now it's up to Jackson to fit these pieces together and solidify the Warriors for a playoff run.

Whether or not he embraces those expectations, that pressure, it's real. Lacob didn't spend that money to be mediocre. He expects the team to progress, and he's very matter of fact about it.

"I have a great relationship with Mark," Lacob told me. "I chose him. ... Like anyone, he needs to grow. The players also need to learn how to handle expectations."

"To be clear, I think Mark has done a great job," Lacob said. "You can't say he hasn't done a great job. Going forward, he'll have expectations to get better. And so will I."

So, how is Jackson going to get better? To borrow from Woody Allen, the Warriors are an enigma wrapped in a riddle obscured by a pick-and-roll.

One night, they look as though they could win the Western Conference. The next, they look as though they belong in the Eastern Conference.

So the question remains: Why are the Warriors so inconsistent? And what can Jackson do to steady the ship?

Here's my take:

-- Curry is out of position. The Warriors' best player, Stephen Curry, might be the greatest shooter in the NBA, present or past. But he's playing point guard, mostly because he's too small to guard NBA off-guards (and he's damn good at playing the point). He's essentially miscast as a point guard. That's always been the case for Curry, a classic 'tweener who doesn't have a natural position in the NBA. With Blake on board, look for Jackson to lean on him to handle the ball, sending Curry to the '2' and allowing the Warriors' best scorer to score in bunches. Either Klay Thompsonor Harrison Barneswill be on the bench more often. And the Warriors will have problems on defense. But this shift has to be better than what we've seen in recent weeks. Curry should be shooting the ball, not bringing it up.

-- Andre Iguodala is not Andre Iguodala. To be frank, this once-electric athlete has looked a little gimpy, a lot tentative. He's getting it done with his smarts and his court vision, but he doesn't have the hops to get to the rim and the line as he used to. And that's what Jackson needs from him. The solution might be a three-guard set, playing Blake, Curry and Thompson at the same time. Or maybe it's time to play Draymond Green some more. He was a key heart-and-energy man in last year's playoffs. And he wins, wherever he's played.

-- Malone's absence is no small matter. The dearly departed assistant coach was widely regarded as Jackson's X's and O's guy, although that point is dubious. Jackson was a point guard for Lou Carnesecca, Pat Riley, Rick Carlisleand many others. If he doesn't know X's and O's, I don't know doughnuts. More likely, Malone's presence has been missed in practice and in the locker room. His replacement, Pete Myers, is a great guy best known for replacing Michael Jordanon the Bulls, back in the day. He's also known around the team as someone who rarely questions Jackson. Maybe that's not the man you want as your No. 2. Maybe Jackson could use more feedback.

-- They can't stay healthy. Jackson likes to say the Warriors are a no-excuse team. He might want to rethink that. As of last week, Golden State had lost 157 games to injury this season, trailing only the Lakers and Bucks in that category. Yet the Warriors have hovered about 10 games over .500 since early January. The other two teams are horrible. So Jackson's doing something right.

And he probably will continue to do so. There's no confusing the third-year coach with the best in the league. He's no Doc Rivers. He's no Gregg Popovich. He's learning on the job and should continue to get better. That's what his boss expects. And I know that's what Jackson expects.

For those of you wondering whether he'll be around the rest of this season, next season or the season after that, remember that Jackson himself said it was unlikely he'd still be around when the team opens its proposed arena in 2017.

The man's a realist. He could miss the playoffs and be gone by summer. Or he could light a fire under this team and be here long after the arena is built ... or the plans are left for dead.

So, forget the expectations. Think of the possibilities.

Insult to injury

As of last week, the Warriors had missed the third-most games to injury this season: